Bryant McMurray oral history interview 3, 2017 January 18

Description

In this third installment of a series of interviews, Bryant McMurray discusses the evolution of stock car racing from a hardscrabble, do-it-yourself sport to a multimillion dollar industry with highly paid celebrity drivers and lucrative corporate sponsorships. He describes his professional and personal relationships with drivers like Richard Petty and Bobby Allison, the tragic fates of Tim Richmond and other hard-living motorsports luminaries who met untimely ends both on and off the track, and the lively culture of parties and carousing that surrounded the sport. McMurray also touches on the role of women in stock car racing as drivers and as beauty queens, the experience of African-American drivers in NASCAR, and his own long and fruitful relationships with fellow sports photojournalists like Pal Parker.